Survey: Scott Kamins

Position: Deputy chief of staff for government affairs, Republican National Committee

Age: 34

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Hometown: Annandale, Va.

Marital status/children: Married, two children

Last job: Deputy assistant secretary of State for legislative affairs

First job: Associate at Berman Enterprises, a business consulting and government affairs firm

Most unusual job: “Changing my younger son’s diaper with one hand while holding my older son with my other hand. ‘Unusual’ doesn’t begin to describe it.”

Most embarrassing moment: “Being picked out of the audience at a Penn and Teller magic show. I completely ruined their illusion by inadvertently letting the audience in on how it was being done.”

Management style: Goal-oriented

Number of cups of coffee you drink per day: Usually none

Religion: Jewish

Favorite political TV show or movie: “Thirteen Days”

Most inspirational figure: My parents

Dream job (not including present one): PGA Tour pro

College: Boston University

Graduate school: George Washington University

Passion outside work: Fatherhood

Claim to fame: “I was the only player on my Little League baseball team to get a hit off of a pitcher who struck out every other kid on the team.”

Scott Kamins met former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) when Kamins was a teenager growing up in Rockville, Md. A few years later, he was with Gingrich in Atlanta on election night 1994 when the Republicans took control of Congress in what later became known as the Republican Revolution.

Kamins, the Republican National Committee’s new deputy chief of staff for government affairs, became a history buff as a teenager, and for him, that meant taking trips into downtown Washington to see political leaders like Gingrich make history.

During one such trip, Kamins introduced himself to Gingrich after the lawmaker had given a speech. That led to several internships in Gingrich’s office.

“As somebody who was a student of history like I was … it was quite a thrill to be there when history was legitimately being made,” he says.

Now Kamins is charged with helping the GOP reclaim its power in Congress. After working in various congressional-liaison roles in the Commerce and State departments under the Bush administration, Kamins says one of his top goals for his new job is to “enhance cooperation between the Republican National Committee and congressional Republicans — House and Senate.”